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Yes, there is. I watch Argentine movies and understand them (with the exception of some slang). Take a listen to the following clip - is there anything you don't understand? You'll be hard pressed to find two totally different dialects - Argentine and northern New Mexican - but they are mutually intelligible.

Huh? Of course they are intelligible, when did I say the opposite? I even emphasized on the general understanding from a country to other. I’ve just said that there is nothing like a “standard”, “neutral” or “universal” Spanish.

The following sentences are both standard in their respective countries, but neither is neutral or universal. Everyone will understand the conjugations and the general idea, yet many may struggle to pick up what they were exactly arguing for.

The only thing that is up for misunderstanding here are the nouns of the fruits. Otherwise both versions are perfectly understandable, even you are not familiar with "podéis" you'll very quickly realize what they're doing with the verb. None of us in NM use that type of conjugation, but we have no problem understanding it.

The following map shows where the "S" is aspired (green) and where it isn't (blue). The countries in the box is Spain and Equatorial Guinea, and the rest are in Spanish America.

Basically, regions that received mostly Spaniards from Andalusia and the Canary Islands (these were mostly farmers and tended to travel as families especially from their homeland to the Spanish Caribbean) tend to aspire the "S".

With the case of Belize, it used to be part of Guatemala. Then the British arrived and did machinations to take that land away fro Guatemala, afterwards the British imported Africans and changed the population in many areas. This country has changed a lot by recent migration from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala; and intense emigration of Belizeans to the USA. Spanish is the main language spoken there now, though isn't official.

The British did the same thing on the Mosquito Coast, but Nicaragua later took over that land again. Americans did a similar thing to the Caribbean coast of Honduras and much of central Panama. Usually the African connection is strong with Jamaica in the Caribbean side of Central America. With the exception of Panama, African ancestry is rare in the Pacific parts of this region, where most of the population lives and always remained in Spanish hands and then became independent countries. Where the British/American influence was strongest the population becomes more mulatto and black with strong ties to Jamaica and the English Caribbean than elsewhere.

Hey yeah, those clips were cool. I definitely hear more Mexican influence with a lot of what is said...I wonder though if that´s just a gradual evolutionary thing given the proximity to Mexico and the potential for contact with new arrivals.

Whenever I get up to NM I´m looking forward to going to the barrio and maybe getting the chance to speak with the locals, see how it sounds in the flesh. Thanks for finding all this.

The following map shows where the "S" is aspired (green) and where it isn't (blue). The countries in the box is Spain and Equatorial Guinea, and the rest are in Spanish America.

Basically, regions that received mostly Spaniards from Andalusia and the Canary Islands (these were mostly farmers and tended to travel as families especially from their homeland to the Spanish Caribbean) tend to aspire the "S".

With the case of Belize, it used to be part of Guatemala. Then the British arrived and did machinations to take that land away fro Guatemala, afterwards the British imported Africans and changed the population in many areas. This country has changed a lot by recent migration from El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala; and intense emigration of Belizeans to the USA. Spanish is the main language spoken there now, though isn't official.

The British did the same thing on the Mosquito Coast, but Nicaragua later took over that land again. Americans did a similar thing to the Caribbean coast of Honduras and much of central Panama. Usually the African connection is strong with Jamaica in the Caribbean side of Central America. With the exception of Panama, African ancestry is rare in the Pacific parts of this region, where most of the population lives and always remained in Spanish hands and then became independent countries. Where the British/American influence was strongest the population becomes more mulatto and black with strong ties to Jamaica and the English Caribbean than elsewhere.

And this map shows me what I´ve known all along...that not pronouncing the -S is just as common as pronouncing it, you can almost see that half of Latin America does and half doesn´t.

And yet somehow people who come from places where they aspirate the -S are told that their Spanish is "bad"; I used to aspirate the -S when I first got to Colombia, and was "corrected" so damn much that I just stopped doing it. It still comes out though when I talk to Venezuelans here, but the point I´m making I guess is that it´s really common and doesn´t need to be discouraged by anyone.

Hey yeah, those clips were cool. I definitely hear more Mexican influence with a lot of what is said...I wonder though if that´s just a gradual evolutionary thing given the proximity to Mexico and the potential for contact with new arrivals.

There's always been a lot of intermingling between "native" New Mexican Hispanics and Mexicans. Definitely a two-way influence. Prior to the Treaty of Guadalupe, the Camino Real between Chihuahua and Santa Fe was heavily used going both ways.

Quote:

Whenever I get up to NM I´m looking forward to going to the barrio and maybe getting the chance to speak with the locals, see how it sounds in the flesh.

Plenty of opportunity for that. You can also go to the little villages in northern NM. There are still old-timers up there who speak it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by aab7855

doesn´t need to be discouraged by anyone.

None of these things should be discouraged. My feeling is that if one region speaks in a particular way, it's perfectly valid.

Are there any TV/radio stations in rural NM where you can here NM Spanish spoken instead of the regular Mexican Spanish we normally hear here in the urban west?

I don't know of any offhand. You might do a search for "radio stations based in Española". This would be the most likely place to host such a thing. You could also try radio stations based out of Taos, Cuba or Chama. Or maybe "radio stations broadcast from northern New Mexico" and call them up and see if they have a Spanish language segment.

If you find one, let me know, as I would be curious.

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